When brands need to make a splash, they engage the senses with immersive activations that trigger emotions. For the latest trends in attention grabbing, I dropped in on the Experiential Marketing Summit 2026 at MGM Grand in Las Vegas.
From Google Director of Events Amy Loskutoff giving career advice to Instacart Head of Global B2B Events Chase Kehoe sharing tricks for making tech tangible, the tea being spilled was based on real life wins and losses.
As I toured the sessions and the Hall of Ideas, the insights bubbled up quickly. Following are some of the distilled wisdom shots I brought back.
Empathy Forward
Access TCA Senior Marketing Specialist Sam Ogden predicted that the future will be more empathetic. There will be fewer screens, more storytelling and physical artifacts that make the invisible real (i.e., a paintbrush that colorfully demonstrates the benefits of arthritis therapies). “People want to connect to people, not bots,” he said.
Read More: Designing for Belonging: How to Engage Audiences Using Empathy
Physical Cravings
Live Nation Entertainment Senior Vice President of Experiential Suzanne O’Neill suggested intentionally designing experiences knowing you are creating people’s future memories. “In real life is more important than ever. People crave human interactions, tactile experiences like physical tickets and access behind the scenes,” she said.
Think about what will be shared when and make the share as easy as possible.
Add Value First
It’s about showing up as a friend and a value add that is relevant to the thing being celebrated, said Mondelez International Head of Global Refreshment Brands Lauren Flanigan. “Think about connecting authentically first and selling later.”
She advocated engaging audiences before, during and after the event.
Data Is Currency
Measuring engagement has gone far beyond social reach, mentions and likes. Data now includes leads, sales conversions and merch sales, according to Ford Racing Global Marketing Manager Jeannee Kirkaldy, who is gearing up for the brand’s 150th anniversary.
Read More: Lessons from an Over-the-Top Brand Experience Summit in Vegas
Emotional Connections
“We are all in the business of making people feel that we care,” said Cirque du Soleil Entertainment Group Vice President of Strategic Development Florent Bayle-Labouré. “Emotion is the top driver of advocacy.”
He suggested working to create the upstream conditions for an emotion, not trying to create the emotion itself. That is where the skill and magic pays off.
